Skip to main content
giving back

Keith Taggart, right, and his brother Jim TaggartDave Chan

The Donors: The Taggart Family

The Gift: $2-million

The Cause: National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA

The Reason: To help pay for new equipment, programs and renovations.

When the seven Taggart children were growing up in Ottawa in the 1950s and 60s, they spent countless hours at the local YMCA. They went to a Y-run nursery school, took swimming lessons at a Y pool and attended Y summer camps. Their mother, Muriel, even served on the board of directors of the local Y.

"There's a strong family connection that has gone back 40 or 50 years," said Jim Taggart, the oldest child and chair of the family-owned Taggart Group of Companies, one of Ottawa's largest construction businesses. "And most of us currently are members of the main Y downtown."

So when Y officials decided to start a $15-million capital campaign in 2008 to raise money for renovations, they asked Mr. Taggart to help. He recruited his brother, Keith, and together they co-chaired the effort.

Things didn't go well at first. They launched the campaign in September, 2008, just as the financial crisis struck, drying up donations for many charities.

"We didn't really start on a very good footing, unfortunately," said Keith, who is also involved with the family company. "But we managed to persevere for the first six months to get a few donations going."

Large gifts were still hard to come by, so the family decided to donate $2-million, the biggest gift ever to the Ottawa Y. "Given our family's history in the city and our business interests, we thought it might be a good idea to put our names forward," Keith said.

The brothers have raised $11.5-million so far and hope to have the remainder by the end of 2011. The money will pay for renovations to the central Y and a pool at another Y.

Keith added that many donations have come from people who, like the Taggarts, have fond memories of attending Y programs as children. When asked if they still go to the Y, both brothers quickly replied: "Definitely."



pwaldie@globeandmail.com

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe